Richard Nixon was the 37th President of the United States (1969–1974) and the only president to resign the office. He was also the 36th Vice President of the United States (1953–1961) under Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Senator from California (1950-1953) and a member of the House of Representatives from California’s 12th district (1947-1950).

The most immediate task facing President Nixon was the Vietnam War. He initially escalated the conflict, overseeing secret bombing campaigns, but soon withdrew American troops and successfully negotiated a ceasefire with North Vietnam, effectively ending American involvement in the war. His foreign policy was largely successful; he opened relations with the People's Republic of China and initiated détente with the Soviet Union. Domestically, he implemented new economic policies which called for wage and price control and the abolition of the gold standard. He was reelected by a landslide in 1972. In his second term, the nation was afflicted with economic difficulties. In the face of likely impeachment for his role in the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. Nixon was later pardoned by his successor, Gerald Ford, for any federal crimes he may have committed while in office.

Nixon believed in using government wisely to benefit all, supporting the idea of practical liberalism. During the Nixon administration, the United States established many government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).  In addition, the Post Office Department was abolished as a cabinet department and reorganized as a government-owned corporation: the U.S. Postal Service. He authorized the Clean Air Act of 1970, which proved to be one of the most significant pieces of environmental legislation ever signed.

By 1972, US automobile ownership had grown to nearly 120 million. Although new technologies enabled some refiners to increase the yields of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and heating oil from a barrel of petroleum, the needs remained unlike anything the world had ever seen. Such reliance on fuel forced the U.S. Federal government to consistently question energy-related policies. In 1969, the administration of President Richard Nixon renewed debate over the quota program. In April 1973, President Nixon delivered the first-ever Presidential address on energy, in which he announced his decision to abolish the quota system, then capping the import of crude oil into America. Without the import barriers, the United States was a full-fledged, though very dependent, member of the world oil market; by the summer of 1973, American imports of petroleum had doubled.

In 1973, petroleum became a tool of diplomacy. The "Arab Oil Embargo" of 1973 fed national panic, which contributed to a 40 percent increase in the price of gasoline.The Nixon administration supported Israel, a powerful American ally in the Middle East, during the Yom Kippur War. When an Arab coalition led by Egypt and Syria—allies to the Soviets—attacked in October 1973, Israel suffered initial losses and pressed European powers for help, but (with the notable exception of the Netherlands) the Europeans responded with inaction. Nixon cut through inter-departmental squabbles and bureaucracy to initiate an airlift of American arms. By the time the U.S. and the Soviet Union negotiated a truce, Israel had penetrated deep into enemy territory. A long-term effect was the movement of Egypt away from the Soviets toward the U.S. But Israel's victory came at the cost to the U.S. of the 1973 oil crisis; the members of OPEC decided to raise oil prices in response to the American support of Israel.

After Nixon chose to go off the gold standard, foreign countries increased their currency reserves in anticipation of currency fluctuation, which caused deflation of the dollar and other world currencies. Since oil was paid for in dollars, OPEC was receiving less value for their product. They cut production and announced price hikes and an embargo targeted at the United States and the Netherlands, specifically blaming U.S. support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War for the actions.

Lines for the purchase of gasoline and stations with empty tanks became common sights; "Sorry, No Gas Today" read signs in front of many stations. The crisis required rationing and cultural changes by the American public. The Embargo became a resounding lesson of "living within limits" for many Americans. Throughout the 1970s, this recognition began to define the modern environmental movement's ideas concerning the need of conserve natural resources. In terms of world power, the equation had been permanently altered. Even following the Embargo, a stable supply of crude oil had been placed undeniably within "matters of national interest."

On January 2, 1974, Nixon signed a bill that lowered the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 miles per hour in order to conserve gasoline during the crisis. This law was repealed in 1995, though states had been allowed to raise the limit to 65 miles per hour in rural areas since 1987.

With the US actions seen as initiating the oil embargo, the long-term possibility of embargo-related high oil prices, disrupted supply and recession, created a strong rift within NATO; both European nations and Japan sought to disassociate themselves from the US Middle East policy. Arab oil producers had also linked the end of the embargo with successful US efforts to create peace in the Middle East, which complicated the situation. To address these developments, the Nixon Administration began parallel negotiations with both Arab oil producers to end the embargo, and with Egypt, Syria, and Israel to arrange an Israeli pullback from the Sinai and the Golan Heights after the fighting stopped. By January 18, 1974, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had negotiated an Israeli troop withdrawal from parts of the Sinai. The promise of a negotiated settlement between Israel and Syria was sufficient to convince Arab oil producers to lift the embargo in March 1974. By May, Israel agreed to withdraw from the Golan Heights.

No American has served as long as Richard Nixon did in an executive office. He is the only person in American history to appear on the Republican Party's presidential ticket five times, to secure the Republican nomination for president three times, and to have been elected twice to both the vice presidency and the presidency. With Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon was the chief builder of the modern Republican party. Throughout his career, he was instrumental in moving the party away from the control of isolationists and as a Congressman was a persuasive advocate of containing Soviet Communism.

Although he did not achieve all that he had wished for in the Middle East, Nixon virtually expelled the Soviet Union from the region and initiated a long peace process. He began formal relations with China and improved relations with the Soviet Union. Domestically, he decentralized government by revenue sharing, greatly reduced segregation in schools, reduced inflation (until it rose again as a result of the oil cartels), ended the gold standard, reduced the crime rate, and pioneered positive environmental measures. As a result of the Watergate scandal, however, the mood of the nation was severely affected and the office of the presidency was demeaned.

Sources

• Wikipedia Contributors, Richard Nixon, Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia, Accessed 4 September 2009.
• Black, Brian (Lead Author); Cutler J. Cleveland (Topic Editor). 2008. "Petroleum history, United States." In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth September 2, 2006; Last revised January 8, 2008; Retrieved September 4, 2009]. 
• Wikipedia Contributors, 1973 oil crisis, Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia, Accessed 4 September 2009.